Work Text:
Erling could finally breathe. The match was over, and his omega had made it to the quarterfinals. Good for them. Too bad for the Mexican team for losing at home. And too bad because now it meant that Norway and England were going to face each other, and one of them would be going home.
He decided to keep watching the broadcast to catch some of the post-match interviews, especially to see his beloved partner of five years, and four since Jude had received his mating mark. Yes, they had been very young when they decided to take that step. It had been a little controversial for Dortmund, but neither of them had cared.
He couldn’t see Jude anywhere. He watched Harry and Gordon giving interviews, but his partner was nowhere to be seen until the camera changed angles and focused on Jude hugging and high-fiving the Mexican players, telling them “good game” or “you’ll win next time.” That was something Jude always did, trying to comfort his opponents after a match. Jude and the camera walked toward the locker room when he suddenly noticed Jude come to an abrupt stop.
Erling raised an eyebrow in confusion.
Jude turned to his right, and the camera followed, focusing on a boy from the Mexican national team wiping away his tears with his hands. Erling grimaced, understanding the pain of a defeat. Jude kept looking at the boy before deciding to walk over and see what was wrong.
The boy, who couldn’t have been older than twenty, managed to say a few words that the microphone failed to pick up. Jude decided to hug him, gently guiding the boy’s head to his scent gland, making him relax enough to hold back some of his sobs.
The alpha growled at the sight.
Why had Jude let him get close to a place that belonged exclusively to him?
Jude took off his shirt and pointed at the boy’s, indicating that he wanted to swap jerseys. With clumsy movements, the boy took off his own shirt and handed it to Jude. Before leaving, Jude stepped closer to the young player, pressed their foreheads together, and whispered something that made the boy nod, bringing their conversation to an end.
Erling could feel his alpha growing restless. That conversation had lasted far too long, and Jude had allowed far too much physical contact. Was the kid an alpha? An omega? He didn’t give a damn. He had no right to smell Jude’s pheromones.
And he did the most sensible thing anyone could do.
He looked him up online.
Who is number 19 on the Mexican national team?
Now he was going to find out who was trying to get in the middle of his relationship.
The information came up quickly, with countless news articles. That kid was apparently a celebrity in his country, but he kept digging until he could learn more about his “rival.” Nothing out of the ordinary. His name, his age, where he played, and his designation.
Gilberto Mora, seventeen years old, a team in Mexico, and… no designation?
Weird.
He searched a little more, trying to figure out his designation or whether the website simply hadn’t updated his information yet.
“Still a pup. Hasn’t presented yet.”
Oh…
The kid was a pup…
Jude had comforted a sad pup…
Jude had let a pup smell the place where babies hide when they’re with their mother…
He felt… jealous… of a child…
He turned off his phone and let out an incredulous laugh.
Had he seriously thought a kid was going to steal his omega away from him?
God, he should be thinking about how to beat England so that Jude would be the one going home while Norway advanced to the semifinals. It sounded harsh, but he really wanted to make it to the final.
★
Jude, for his part, decided to be the first one to go to bed. His team wanted to celebrate, but he felt exhausted and had a headache. Once he got to his room, he took off his trainers and pulled off his hoodie, leaving himself in nothing but his shorts since he had given his shirt to that crying pup.
Remembering the way the pup had cried made his inner omega feel… bad. It wasn’t the first time he had played against pups. He had played with Gavi before he presented, and he had never felt the urge to comfort him like that. Lamine was still an unpresented pup too, and Jude had never treated him that way either.
So why had this time been different?
He pulled the pup’s jersey out of his backpack and stared at it curiously before letting out a quiet laugh.
I’m thinking such stupid things.
He slipped the jersey back into his bag and decided to video call his alpha. It was still early in the United States.
He dialed Erling’s number and waited for it to stop ringing before his alpha finally appeared on screen with a face mask on.
“What are you wearing?” Jude laughed at the sight of Erling.
“A face mask.”
“What for?”
“Trying to look handsome.”
“But you’re already handsome.” Jude set his phone down on the bedside table so he could get a better look at Erling. “So, how was the match against Brazil—”
“A bit difficult, I’m not going to lie. Things got even more tense once the fights started.” Jude nodded. “Hey, good game earlier.”
“A very difficult one… the altitude, the players, the referee, the penalties… although in the end we finished with ten men against ten.”
“And then there was that kid.” Erling growled again at the memory.
“What kid?” Jude didn’t remember any pitch invasion.
“The Mexican.”
“Oh! Him… the one I gave my jersey to.”
“And the one you let hide against your neck… where my mark is… where my place is.”
“Are you jealous?”
“Why would anyone else be against your neck? No one else, not even a kid!”
“He’s a pup, Erling. He was upset and I just… wanted to comfort him. My omega felt awful seeing him standing there all alone, crying.”
Erling tilted his head curiously. Jude had a melancholy look on his face, and his hands unconsciously drifted to his stomach. Jude didn’t seem to notice, but Erling certainly did.
“So… you wanted to comfort a pup… because your omega asked you to?”
“Maybe.”
Erling found himself picturing something he had never imagined before.
Jude comforting a pup…
A light brown-skinned pup with brown hair…
The pride of his family.
…
Wait a minute…
★
The World Cup was over. Norway had finished as runners-up, and Spain had become world champions for the second time in their history. Erling wasn’t sad… honestly, he had done well for it being his first World Cup.
Now he had a vacation!
And he would finally get to spend some time in Madrid with Jude. Living in different countries meant they rarely got to be together, so they made the most of every chance they had.
How had their relationship been?
Very well…
Although there had been one small change…
For the better?
You could say they had both come down with puppy fever.
Maybe they had both started paying a lot more attention to pups and anything related to them.
It had all started about a week after the World Cup ended. They were walking around a shopping centre in England, browsing clothing stores, buying things for the house, stopping by a shoe shop, until they came across a baby store. They both stopped when they saw a tiny England national team shirt. Jude laughed at how small it was, so they went inside to take a closer look, planning to send a picture to their parents-in-law so they could see how adorable it was.
Instead, they ended up looking at all the baby clothes.
Jude lovingly held up the tiny socks, the yellow jumpers, the little trousers, the headbands for baby girls. Erling noticed that Jude looked like he could die from how adorable everything was.
And once again…
His hands drifted to his stomach.
Another time, they were walking through the streets of Madrid when a couple recognised them and asked if they could take a picture together. They happily agreed. First, they took photos with the parents, and then the father asked if they could take one with their baby so that, one day, their child could say they had met two great football stars.
They were about to hand the baby to Erling, but Jude stepped in and shyly asked if he could hold the baby instead.
The parents enthusiastically said yes.
So Jude ended up cradling the baby…
And he looked incredibly…
Happy.
The final clue came when Erling caught Jude watching TikToks of pups taking their first steps, mothers sharing their experiences of parenthood, and room tours of nurseries.
He watched every single one with so much affection.
Then he started renovating his flat in Madrid.
Whenever Erling visited Madrid, they slept in the same bedroom, meaning Jude had two spare rooms that had become dumping grounds for boxes, old clothes, and things he’d never use.
But now Jude had started clearing one of those rooms out.
He threw things away, moved boxes elsewhere, cleaned it constantly…
Then he’d simply stand there, staring at the room.
Erling was completely confused.
So he finally decided to ask.
“Okay… what’s going on?” the alpha asked as he walked into the room, looking over at Jude, who was sweeping the floor.
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you renovating this room?” Erling watched Jude blush and lower his gaze. “Why… why, Jude?”
“I…” Jude fidgeted with the broom handle. “It’s… I don’t know if you’ll like it.”
“I love you, I’m worried about you, and I know you’re hiding something. What’s going on?”
Jude sighed, leaned the broom against the wall, and walked out of the bedroom before sitting down on the living room sofa.
Erling followed him and sat beside him.
“So?”
Jude played with his fingers before finally looking at him.
“I want… I want a pup.”
Erling blinked several times.
“What did you say?”
“I… want a pup. I want to have a baby.”
“Oh…”
That was all the alpha managed to say.
Jude lowered his head sadly, convinced his alpha didn’t want the same thing. It had been foolish of him to think otherwise.
He began fidgeting with his fingers, and his pheromones slowly turned sour.
“You don’t want one. That’s okay, I understand. We can… talk about it later and pretend this never happened.” Jude stood, ready to leave so his alpha wouldn’t see the tears gathering in his eyes.
His wrist was gently caught by someone else’s hand.
Erling looked at him with pleading eyes.
“Stop. Sit down.”
Jude immediately sat back down beside him.
“Are you serious? You really want us to have a child?”
“After seeing that pup from Mexico… something woke up inside me. Then seeing all those baby clothes… holding that sweet little pup… it made me realise that I wanted one too.” Erling listened carefully. “I know we’re very young and we’re both at the peak of our careers… but I really want to have a child.”
Erling let out a quiet snort of laughter, shaking his head in disbelief.
“I knew there was something unusual about that kid… but I never imagined he’d leave such a mark on you.”
Jude lightly punched him on the shoulder.
“Don’t laugh at me.”
“I’m not laughing.”
In reality, Erling absolutely was, but he wasn’t about to admit it.
“When I saw him crying… it was strange. It wasn’t pity, and it wasn’t mockery. I just… felt this overwhelming need to protect him. My omega kept thinking, ‘He’s just a pup.’ I didn’t see an opponent. I didn’t see a player from another national team. I only saw… a pup who needed someone to hug him.”
He paused before turning to look at his partner.
“What do you think?”
Erling smiled back at him.
“Me too.”
Jude looked up.
“What?”
“I started doing the same things. I might have bought a few pairs of trainers… for a baby that doesn’t even exist.”
Jude burst into laughter and leaned against his alpha’s chest.
Relief washed over him.
They were going to have their pup.
Finally.
“So… do you know when you want one?” the alpha asked.
“Now.”
“What!?”
Erling stared as Jude stood up from the sofa, kicked off his trainers, quickly unfastened and pulled off his trousers, then removed his shirt until he was left standing in nothing but his underwear.
“Ah… so you really mean right now.”
Goodbye, month-long holiday.
Hello, month spent trying to have a pup.
★
Five months later:
And Jude had done it.
He was carrying their pup.
They had seen the positive test four months earlier, and Jude had immediately called Florentino Pérez to tell him he’d be taking several months away due to maternity leave.
The beta had asked him when exactly he’d decided this, reminding him that the Champions League was just around the corner and that the team needed him.
Jude had simply replied that he was going to have his baby.
For now, he was living in Manchester, though only temporarily, because Erling was already in talks to join Real Madrid and play alongside him and his teammates. They were just waiting for the summer transfer window so the paperwork could begin.
Now Jude lay curled up in his nest, one hand resting on his stomach.
Their little girl was on the way.
Both he and Erling were beyond excited to meet their daughter.
“Where are you?” he heard his alpha call.
“In the bedroom.”
He heard footsteps approaching before Erling appeared in the doorway, training bag slung over one shoulder and a smile on his face.
“How are my girls doing?”
“Sleepy.”
Erling climbed into the nest beside him, searching for the warmth of his omega.
“We should take a nap.”
“That sounds like a great plan.”
Maybe beating Mexico had set off the butterfly effect that gave them a family.
And he wouldn’t change a single thing.